Centre College students write about campus life for Odyssey Online

Centre College is a place where important conversations occur, both in and out of the classroom. Students are now taking the initiative to bring these important conversations, among other things, to the Odyssey Online website.

The Odyssey Online is a student news source, featuring content from more than 30 colleges and universities across the nation. Each campus covers news relevant to its students, while also providing lifestyle and entertainment content.

Devin Baker ’18

Devin Baker ’18 first found out about opportunities available on the site simply by being an avid reader of its content.

“I’ve been reading articles from The Odyssey Online for over a year, and I’ve always admired what the Odyssey does for the voices of my generation,” she says. “I noticed the forum had several campuses represented, but Centre was not one of them. So, I took the initiative and applied to start a campus team.”

After being offered the position of editor-in-chief, Baker began to recruit writers through various forms of social media. She took on a staff of 21 writers and editors as well as social media directors.

Among the topics they have written on so far are adoption, healthy options in college cafeterias and Centre’s women’s lacrosse team. They will also partner with Centre’s online publication The Cento this fall to publish some of the paper’s articles on the Odyssey’s site.

“In the future, we hope to use our social media accounts—made specifically for the Odyssey team at Centre—to recruit more writers, in addition to sending direct emails to different organizations on campus and talking about the Odyssey by word of mouth,” she explains.

Baker says “several skills” she has learned in Centre classes have helped her through this process.

“I’ve learned how to write thoughtful and concise essays and articles, how to argue thoughtfully and professionally, and to offer helpful evidence supporting my claims,” she explains.

She hopes to grow her staff to include incoming first-year students to keep Centre’s portion of the Odyssey “growing and thriving for years to come.”

“The Odyssey provides a platform where college students can make their voices heard,” Baker concludes. “It really is an online news source made for millennials.”